How to pick the best meats for your barbecue
BBQ pitmaster Phil Johnson shares what to look for when selecting ribs, steak and chicken.
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Iowa’s pit master, Thyron Mathews, made his return to TV on Food Network’s “BBQ Brawl.”
For the sixth season, BBQ Brawl is back with new pitmasters vying for the title of Master of ‘Cue. Before coming to Food Network, Mathews was the grand champ of Netflix’s “Barbeque Showdown.”
“It is still unreal,” Mathews said. “You have to pinch yourself all the time because this is a dream come true.”
Since the show, Mathews has toured Iowa and the country grilling for events and competitions. Now he is back on TV, looking to solidify his name as a national pitmaster on the Food Network cooking competition.
“You feel really humbled when you go there,” Mathews said. “You want to have confidence, but you just can’t help to be a little nervous and scared.”
Who is Thyron Mathews?
Mathews started grilling at the age of 10 when he learned southern barbeque from his family in his hometown of Royal, Florida. He eventually moved to Iowa for college to play football, where he also used to grill for his team and community meals. The Iowans he dished food to couldn’t get enough of his grilling.
Mathews and his wife, Terri, decided they should start a catering business in Oelwein, Iowa. Naturally, they named the company after each other: T&T Barbecue and Catering.
What is ‘BBQ Brawl’ about?
The competitors are divided into three different teams with celebrity chef captains including Bobby Flay, Maneet Chauhan and Antonia Lofaso. Each episode consists of different challenges.
The first episode had the pitmasters competing for first pick of a celebrity chef captain for the rest of the season. In later episodes, the losing team has a teammate sent home from the competition.
How has Thyron Mathew’s performed so far on ‘BBQ Brawl’?
Mathews is on Lofaso’s team. The Los Angeles-based celebrity chef said she was looking for a pitmaster who knew how to season, a skill Mathews possesses.
Mathews had a rough start in the first episode during the first challenge when he forgot where he put his cowboy butter shrimp for his Texas toast sandwich.
“You know how people say you have butterflies in your stomach? I had eagles, big eagles in my stomach,” Mathews said. “But you rely on your style of cooking and big, bold flavors. You have to go back to what got you there.”
Regardless of the mistake, Mathews pulled through on his pork tenderloin, which guest Rodney Scott described as expertly cooked while complimenting his Royal Gold Mustard sauce.
“I think the biggest wild card is actually Thyron – I think he was very nervous in the first cook (when he forgot the shrimp), but right now, I feel like he cooks from the deepest parts of his soul,” Lofaso said on the show.
Mathews finished the first episode by impressing the judges with an Iowa staple: pork tenderloin. With a combination of his grandfather’s rub and the traditional Iowa cut, not even his nerves could shake Mathews.
“Thank God for pork tenderloin,” Mathews said. “It was something that I could depend on and know that I have cooked many, many times and I knew that was going to be a show-stopper.”
How to watch Thyron Mathews on Food Network’s ‘BBQ Brawl’
News episodes of “BBQ Brawl” air at 8 p.m. CT every Sunday on Food Network. Episodes are available on the streaming platform Max.
The first episode is available to stream for free on YouTube.
You can also download the Food Network Go app and watch the latest episodes.
Where to find and follow Thyron Mathews
Know for: Catering large and small barbecue events, sharing grilling videos and T&T Barbecue and Catering products such as the mop sauce.
Kate Kealey is a general assignment reporter for the Register. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @Kkealey17.
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